About the 7-TLE study
- The 7-Tesla Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (7-TLE) Study is a prospective, case-control neuroimaging study of both children and adults with TLE being considered for epilepsy surgery.
- The 7-TLE Study utilises the ability of the high-field, 7-Tesla MRI scanner at St Thomas’ Hospital (find more details here) to obtain high-resolution data of small structures (such as the piriform cortex) in the temporal lobe.
- The 7-TLEÌýStudy will primarily investigate the connectivity of the piriform cortex and mesial temporal lobe structures by comparing functional MRI measures between patients with TLE and healthy participants.
Design
- ParticipantsÌýÌýare invited to attend a single visit during which they will have a single 7-Tesla MRI scan.
- We are performing high-resolution functional and diffusion MRI to investigate the brain connectivity of temporal lobe structures.
- We are also developing the use of electroencephalography (EEG) to run simultaneously with fMRI acquisition
Objectives
Inclusion criteria for patients
Patients must have all of the following crietria for enrolment:
- Age 5 to 65 years atÌýstudy enrolement
- Suspected to have focal TLE and referred to their respective epilepsy surgery multidisciplinary team (MDTs)Ìý
- Considered for epilepsy surgeryÌý
Inclusion criteria for healthy participants
Healthy participants must be:
•ÌýÌý ÌýAged between 5 – 65 years at study enrolmentÌý
Exclusion criteria for all participants
•ÌýÌý ÌýContraindications to MRI scanningÌý
•ÌýÌý ÌýPrevious inability to intolerance to MRI scan without sedation or general anaestheticÌý
•ÌýÌý ÌýYounger than 5 years or older than 65 years of ageÌý
Recruitment target
•ÌýÌý Ìý40 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy
•ÌýÌý Ìý30 healthy participants
Recruiting sites
•ÌýÌý ÌýGuys’ and St Thomas’ Hospital
•ÌýÌý ÌýGreat Ormond Street Hospital
•ÌýÌý ÌýThe National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
Sponsor and oversight:
The 7-TLE Study is Sponsored by the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health